The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1887-03-11
Ladies' Department.
Men and Rival Amuse-
mentS,

our newspapers Jne felnlSnlcenCeS OF
an aged man living in town from
which many families had emigrated
In his youth he said every house
was occupied by large family, and
there never was any trouble in get
ting up kissing party at short no.
tice. Would there be any great diff
ficultv now in most of our rural vii
lagos? fear not. A lady was tell
ing me, not long since, of beingpre
ent at gathering of young people
in a New England country town,
where fav2rite game was called
Ngoing to Boston," A youth and
maiden, chosen by lot, went their
round through the room hand in hand
while between every two OSCILLATION
they kissed one another. This pre-
sents the affectionate practice in
its simplest form, and without the
disguise Of "forfeirs' or any of the
intricaces Of ''string games Why
is it it called going 10 Boston, I
know not. as the manners of that
city are genera ly supposed to err on
the side Of coldness rather than of
ardor. Perhaps the popular impress
ion is that those who are preparing
for that cool climate must lay in an
ample supply of human warmth be-
forehand, as people collect buffalo
robes and hot soapstones for q
sleigh-ride.
1t may be asserted in q general
way, that wherever in the United
States you do NOT find dancing you
find kissing. In communities where
dancing was disapproved | have
seen string games called for and
carried into practice at entertain
ments held in school houses, and ev-
en- at church sociables. In such
places members and, for ought l
know, deacons take part in the
amusement, and l have seen it de.
velop freshness, so to speak, in
grizzled men, which made them, one
would say, anything but seductive or
beguiling to the young and fir.
Among those of earlier years kiss.
ing becomes, in such communities, a
systematic pursuit, like hunting or
fishing: Young girls whose
parents object to it are neg
lected or disliked; a young
man in such q village told a friend
of mine, with some indignation, that
she was the only girl in town whom
he had not kissed Tt is OF no use
to object to it as immoral where the
church members are committed to it.
Perhaps it cannot be called immoral
but when society has reached a Ger
tain stage of refinement these games
vanish. The symbol of that increas-
ed refinement is usually dancing.
Dancing whatever its drawbacks.
serves practically as the antidote to
kissing games; where one begins the
other lies out. They do not seem
to flourish side by side; at any rate
people rarely go back from dancing
to kissing. Granting, for the sake
of argument, that it is necessary to
have some amusement, the choice
lies, in our villages and their sea-
tered families. between these Two
forms of relaxation. Which is the
better of the two?
A friend Of mine, wishing some
years since to hire grove tor large
rural picnic. was asked by the pro.
prietor of the grove whether there
was to be any dancing. On being
answered Yes, he seemed much re-
lieved, and went on to say that, as a
rule. picnics were much more decent
and orderly if they allowed 1t. In
the absence of dancing, he said, there
were usually kissing games, followed
oy romping. mock marriages, and all
sorts of rudeDess, so that he was al
WAYS glad if there was to be dancing
It was always orderly and never led
to any trouble. This is, should
think, very common observation
I have seen thousands of people
gathered at Rock Point day after
day in summer, with dancing going
on all day long, and never word OF
an act that | should be unwilling to
have young person see; and l have
seen at country church gatherings
where dancing would have been
thought q sin Iomping and rudeness
such as no young girl should take
mort in. Tn view of this there is